Interlude
by Merlin71
Summary: Missing scene for No Man's Land warning spoilers for the episode!


_**Spoilers for No Man's Land! **_

_**Since Melissa is doing tags for each ep and staying more IN Canon. I told her I'd write her a Shep Whump AU scenario for each ep of this season. In other words, the scene that the show COULD have put in to give us Shep whumpers the fix we need. Below is the first.**_

**INTERLUDE**

He hated being dragged. But it seemed to be a regular occurrence since coming to the Pegasus galaxy. He'd have to work on stopping that. Right now, however, he'd settle for getting back on his feet. To that end, John dug in his heels as best he could and started shifting. The hold on him was released, which he wasn't prepared for, and he dropped down and back, hitting his head on the floor. Perfect, more stars and dancing black spots to contend with.

"On your feet human!" Snarled the head wraith.

Not that John had a choice because the two muscle-bound Wraith that had been dragging him, gripped an arm each and hauled him upright. Woah...so not good for his equilibrium, or his stomach. John swallowed hard against the bile that was trying to sneak its way up his throat. He felt a hand in his hair, lifting his head and, yeah...that was so much better. He blinked hard then squinted at the fish face swimming before him.

Fish face released John's hair with a snarl. Then he was ordering his minions to bring him. Which pretty much meant drag him upright this time, and seeing how he wasn't in the mood for it, Sheppard shifted to get his feet under him. Better to stumble along than be dragged. But he felt like he was walking on the deck of a ship hitting waves in the middle of a huge storm. It meant that all things considered, he was rather grateful for the support from tweedle dum and tweedle dee.

He wasn't sure how long they walked, when everything came to a halt. John sagged in the grip holding him, lifting his head only when he recognized a new voice to the mix. Michael. He and the head Wraith dude seemed to be arguing. John hoped this was a rescue attempt in his favor, although the odds weren't good since Michael had been rejected by his own kind. Still, it bought John some time without movement, and he was able to get his senses back a bit. At the very least he found himself able to stand up without feeling like he was going to fall over.

The next thing he knew, Michael was gripping his jacket and hauling him forward with a weapon trained on him. So not good. But they rounded a bend and Michael was letting go and handing him his weapon. Now that's what John called a rescue. He still felt a bit out of it, but now that things were in his favor again, he pushed himself to focus. They had to find Rodney and Ronon.

He followed Michael to the cocoons, feeling a moment of panic that they were empty. John noticed one was cut from the inside, which meant Ronon and his magic knives, so he was pretty sure they were okay, and that gave him hope. Between them, they should be able to find a way out of this mess. Which meant first things first. Stopping the Wraith from reaching Earth. Their best hope in that regard would be Rodney.

"Knowing Ronon, they'd go somewhere they could do the most damage," John stated, locking eyes with Michael. "And Rodney would know what to do."

"This way," Michael said, heading off.

John took off after him, shaking away the dizziness that threatened to make him stumble. The minute they were back on Atlantis, he was taking half a bottle of aspirin for his headache. It was getting exponentially worse by degrees. He tuned out his discomfort because right now, they had a job to do.

Michael moved with swift assurance, weaving them in and out of corridors so as to avoid capture as other Wraith swept by them. Then they rounded a corner and John felt a grin split his face. Hunched over a console was Rodney and close beside him was Ronon.

"Hey," John called out.

Ronon looked pleased for a moment, till he noticed Michael. "What is he doing here?" Anger vibrated through Ronon and he was practically snarling.

John moved to shield Michael, given how predictable Ronon could be, he was pretty sure the Satedan would be leaping forward to try and crush Michael any minute now. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Michael. So chill out, big guy."

"What happened to you?" Rodney was asking. "How did you get here?"

"Piggy backed on the ship before it went into hyperdrive," John explained.

Ronon looked impressed. "Nice move."

John nodded, grinning. "Saw it in a movie once."

"Maybe we can use your ship to get out of here," Rodney interjected, and he had his thinking face on.

"Can't," John replied, wincing. "It got blown up." He didn't add how he'd gotten blown up with it. More or less.

Ronon was still glaring at Michael, but suggested, "What about taking a dart? Sheppard can fly it and scoop us up like he did before."

Michael's eyes went wide at that. "You can fly our ships?"

"Kinda had no choice but to learn," John replied. Then he opened his mouth to reply to Ronon's idea but suddenly the floor tipped under his feet, listing him sideways. He felt hands grab him, stopping him from hitting the floor. He saw black spots dancing before his eyes before awareness faded away.

OoO

He heard Rodney's panicked voice, somewhere to his left. Turning his head, John bit back a moan as pain spiked in his temples. There was movement beside him and when he opened his eyes he saw McKay's anxious face. "What happened?" John winced because his voice sounded too loud in his head.

"You fainted!" Rodney snapped. "What's wrong with you?"

"He must have been injured when his ship was hit," Michael interjected.

Rodney looked upset. "You were in the ship when it blew up?"

John would have glared at Michael if he could have located him around Rodney's bulk. "I was in it when the wing got blown off," he allowed. "Everything after that is kinda foggy."

"This is not good." Rodney was the King of stating the obvious. "You might have brain damage or something."

"I'm not damaged," John shot back, feeling a bit irritated. He made a move to sit up only to have Rodney's hand on his chest press him back down. John tried to shove it off him, but he wasn't feeling overly coordinated at the moment.

McKay glared at him. "Stay down, you're hurt...and I don't know how to fix you."

John glared right back. "I'm not hurt!" At McKay's derisive snort he amended, "I'm just a little bruised and battered. No big deal. And it's not like we can stay here." He broke off as he took a look at his surroundings. They were in a different room. "Hey, where are we?"

"Hiding out," Rodney supplied. "After your spectacular faint, we nearly got caught."

"I didn't faint," John stated, pushing upright and this time succeeding. He narrowed his gaze at Rodney, which made McKay back off. But when he tried to stand his ribs and shoulder protested, reminding John that he'd gotten shaken up pretty badly. Not that anyone else needed to know that. Then the next thing he knew he was being lifted to his feet.

Ronon steadied him. "You gonna be okay?" he asked, quietly.

John gave a pained smile. "Gonna have to be." He knew Ronon would understand that he'd do what he had to do, despite any injuries. "Thanks for the lift." He stepped away from Ronon's grip.

"Anytime." Ronon smirked but didn't step away, sticking close in case John needed him.

"So...what's the plan?" John queried, looking to Rodney.

Before Rodney could reply the four of them were enveloped in a shimmery bright light.

**THE END**


End file.
